Skin related diseases exhibit a large toll on public health. Skin cancers can be ravaging on individuals, requiring chemotherapy, radiation, and/or surgery. Survival of skin cancer is best when an individual detects the existence of the lesion early and can start treatment as early as possible. For this reason, doctors suggest yearly screening visits to dermatologists. During these visits dermatologists often use optical medical devices such as dermatoscopes to view moles and possible lesions for characteristics which could be attributed to skin cancer. If a dermatologist detects a lesion with characteristics indicative of skin cancer then the dermatologist can take remedial actions, such as removing the lesion for further testing.
One characteristic which dermatologists will take note of as a possibility of skin cancer is any change in the shape, size, or color of a lesion over time. For instance, if a patient has a mole which gets larger over the course of a year, a dermatologist is likely to take note and flag the mole for further review or remedial action. Tools have been developed to assist dermatologists in tracking skin lesions over time. Dermatologists may take digital photos of moles and possible lesions to store on a computer system. A dermatologist may take an initial photo of a possible lesion or a mole to operate as a base line for later comparison. At a later visit from the patient, the dermatologist can take additional digital photos of the same mole or possible lesion to compare against the base line photos. If a dermatologist sees changes when comparing the photos the dermatologist can then take follow up action with respect to that specific mole or lesion.
Some systems permit a dermatologist to take photos of moles and possible lesions, and track changes in those moles and possible lesions. However, current systems are limited in that they are physician-centric. They are developed for use solely by dermatologists. These systems are limited in that patients are required to travel to a doctor's office for the systems to be used. The systems do not solve the problems faced when patients fail to travel to the doctor's office or fail to keep a yearly appointment. What is needed is a system and method guiding patients to remotely self-photograph themselves for storage, transmission, and review by the patient's physician. Furthermore, systems are needed which provide templates as guides for individuals to take proper photographs of themselves for later analysis and systems which assists in analysis by allowing a user to directly compare multiple images of lesions to detect change.